The Lonely Knight
by Ele84
Summary: After 4x21: We all know how that fairytale goes: the princess is trapped in a tower by an evil witch and a prince saves her. B might be the princess, but the prince who's coming to save her isn't Louis but our very own Lonely Boy, pardon Knight. xoxo GG
1. 1  Dan

**TITLE: **The Lonely Knight**  
><strong>**PAIRING: **Dan/Blair (with hints of Blair/Louis, Blair/Chuck, Dan/Charlie)**  
>SPOILERS: <strong>Up to 4x21**  
>RATING: <strong>T, but just to be safe. I've tried to keep it all PG but I'm not sure about what's yet to be written. If needed I'll fix it.**  
><strong>

**SUMMARY: **We all know how that fairytale goes: the princess is trapped at the top of a tower by an evil witch and a prince saves her. B might be the princess, but the prince who's coming to save her isn't Louis but our very own Lonely Boy, pardon Knight. xoxo GG

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own _Gossip Girl_ or anything else for the matter.**  
>AUTHOR'S NOTES: <strong>This is my first GG fic but I hope this is not too OOC. Also, I'm Italian so you're warned! ihih

If someone is up to betaing this baby, there's at least another 5 chapters of this (4 written, I just need to type them)

* * *

><p><strong>DAN<strong>

He was still trying to come to terms with what happened or almost happened in the headmistress' office.

He liked Charlie, sometimes even a little more than just as a friend. But the truth? The truth was he was still hang up on Blair. You can't realize you have feelings for a Woldorf and just forget about it in a matter of days.

So yeah, he liked Charlie, liked hanging out with her, talking about books and movies, but those conversations weren't as intriguing yet easy as were those he had with Blair.

Ok, technically he did kiss Charlie a bunch of times, but he's only human after all.

He tried to tell himself he shouldn't, that it wasn't fair to her or to himself, cause he was still harboring pretty strong feelings for a certain brunette, but at last he just went with it, screw the consequences.

Still thinking about it, he caught a glimpse of Blair, rushing down the stairs, heading to the wardrobe in a hurry. He looked up and saw Charlie, who walked down the few steps that separated them, on the same stairs he saw Blair just a couple of seconds before.

«Dan, I'm sorry, I...» Charlie tried to explain.

«Charlie, I don't think this is the right place for that particular conversation,» he cut her short. «What happened with Blair? Why is she leaving in such a hurry?»

«Chuck Bass, what else? Are you still pining over her? I thought you were over her, I thought you…»

But Dan didn't hear what she thought, cause once she said Chuck's name he knew Blair was heading towards trouble. He left Charlie there without another word and rushed after the brunette. He saw her going out of the front doors of the school and he ran after her, forgoing the wardrobe and leaving his coat behind, but he missed her for just a couple of seconds: once he had reached the street she was already in a cab.

He hailed an approaching cab, telling the driver to follow the one Blair was in. His eyes trained on the yellow car in front of him and the dark hair he could see through the windshield, he thought about the girl he was following, the one he left at his old school and the one he had argued with at the engagement party a couple of hours before.

He briefly considered calling Serena to let her know something was wrong with Blair, but then he thought that if the brunette hadn't already called her best friend for help, she probably didn't want it at all.

As it became clear the cab was headed towards Brooklyn he started wondering if she was coming to see him and not Chuck, but then he remembered she knew he was attending both the parties with Charlie, so she must have known he was still at their old school. Or at least that's where he was supposed to be at the moment.

As they approached a construction site with a sign stating "Charles Place" he realized Charlie had been right: she was going to meet Chuck.

He hesitated for a few seconds, thinking about what he was supposed to do. But then he remembered Nate telling him about the heated argument he had witnessed back at the Empire, that resulted in a bleeding Blair running away from Chuck and in Nate going to stay at Raina's for a few days while he thought about what to do with Chuck. Decision made, he paid the driver and walked to the building, going after Blair. He could hear the clicky sound of her heels up the stairs. He followed her silently, a little more than a floor behind her, close enough for him to keep track of her but not close enough for her to notice him. When he heard her opening a door upstairs he started to climb the steps more quickly.

He just wanted to make sure she was safe and Chuck didn't have a chance to hurt her again. (It wasn't because he was jealous or anything. Nope. No way. Ok, maybe a little bit.)

When he finally reached the last steps leading to the roof access, he felt a heavy sense of anticipation and anxiety. When he finally was at the top of the stairs he saw the door to the roof getting closed by a man who certainly wasn't Chuck: Mr Thorpe.

He tried to open the door but found it locked. This really didn't sit good with him. He tried the handle again with the same result. He quickly thought about what to do and took his phone out of his pocket and dialed a familiar number.

«Hey man,» Nate's voice greeted him. «This is not a really good moment.»

«Nate, it's important,» he hurried to say.

«Ok, what is it?»

«Is Blair up to something? Is _Chuck_ up to something? Cause I thought he went to rehab but why else would Blair meet Raina's father at the construction site for Chuck's latest project?»

«Wait, what? Thorpe?»

He could tell by Nate's voice that these weren't good news.

«Dan, listen,» Nate said. «As far as I know, Chuck is at the party at Constance. He's not in rehab, it's just a rumor. It's a long story, but tonight he found out something about Thorpe that... Well, let's say Chuck got him to leave New York for good and Raina is refusing to ever talk to her father again. I think he might be trying to get back at Chuck through Blair.»

«You think he's going to hurt her? That he'd be capable of doing that?»

«Dan, he already killed a woman and that was his wife,» Nate explained, his voice weak, tired and worried at the same time.

«Oh, god,» Dan cried. «We're on the roof. You call 911, I'll try to get to her as soon as I can.»

He hung up, not even waiting for Nate's answer. He tried to knock down the door with his shoulder movie style, but it didn't work on the metal door. He tried again with the same luck and then looked around, searching for something to open the door with. His eyes fell upon the fire extinguisher, heavy enough to try and break the handle and the lock.

He took hold of it and slammed it as hard as he could against the door handle. Once, twice. On the third blow the handle fell to the floor. He quickly sat the fire extinguisher on the ground and knocked the other side of the handle out of his housing, opening the door in the process.

The scene that greeted him at the other side of the door froze the blood in his veins.

* * *

><p>This is basically already written. It just needs another couple of scenes and an epilogue. And I need to type it.<p>

So I'm hoping I'll be able to post another chapter before the season finale and then the rest of the story a chapter every couple of days.

I'd love to hear what you guys think about this, so please R&R!


	2. 2  Blair

**DISCLAIMER: **Still not owning anything Gossip Girl related.**  
><strong>**AUTHOR'S NOTES: **This is my first GG fic but I hope this is not too OOC. Also, I'm Italian so you're warned! Ihih I'm working on getting a beta for the rest of the fic but I really wanted to publish this first two chapters before the season finale was aired.

A huge **thank you** to all the people who took the time to review last chapter: I really appreciate it! I agree with all of you saying it's really a shame they'll go with the cliché. Honestly, I haven't seen the promos for the season finale cause I didn't want to get my ideas mixed with what's really going to happen in the show. I've been thinking about this fic since the end of last week episode and decided to just sit down and write it. I really hope you'll enjoy it and won't be too disappointed if it doesn't meet your expectations.

I'm sorry for dragging this out, but I need to add one last thing to Chiara: come ti capisco! Anche io sono abituata a leggere tutto in inglese! Speriamo che gli autori vedano presto la luce!

**BLAIR**

Blair realized something wasn't right the moment she saw it was Thorpe on the roof with her. She didn't know why, but she knew this wasn't going to end well. If all the classics she loved taught her something, it was that a man stepping out of the shadows he'd been hiding into is never a good omen.

She quickly went through her options: she hadn't told anybody about the phone call from a police officer asking her to come to this place ASAP because Chuck was threatening to jump off the roof. She'd only told Serena's cousin she was going to meet Chuck, but she didn't tell her where. Because frankly, she didn't trust nor like the little Serena wannabe.

Nobody knew where she was other than the cab driver she had left waiting for her downstairs, but let's face it: he was more than happy keeping the clock running while he waited for her to come back.

She realized she had two options: either try to get Thorpe to tell her what he wanted, in order to stall him and see if someone was coming at her rescue, or start screaming at the top of her lungs, hoping that was enough to scare him off.

She was still wondering about her best option when Thorpe made the choice for her: it looked like he really wanted her to know why he was doing this. He started talking, telling his story.

«You are here because of Chuck. His father took my wife from me,» he said, his voice calm with no trace of the craziness she could see in his eyes. « She was going to leave me for him and she would have taken Raina with her. I couldn't let that happen. I had to kill him, to get rid of him and keep my family together. But he didn't die in that fire, my wife did.»

That's when Blair knew this wasn't going to end well. This is when she started really thinking she might not leave this roof alive. This man killed his wife, she was sure he would not start growing a conscience just for little old her.

«It was awful but at least I still had Raina,» he kept explaining. «But now Chuck is taking her away from me, he told her it was my fault her mother died. She hates me now. My own daughter hates me and it's all his fault. He took away all I had left, the most important thing in my life. So now I'm going to do the same. I'm going to take you away from him.»

As he said this he pulled a gun from the pocket of his coat and trained it at her. She instinctively took a step away from him, getting a step closer to the railing. He smiled a twisted, ruthless and crazy smile. A smile she had sometimes seen on Chuck's face and knew for a fact that never led to good things.

«Go ahead, Miss Woldorf. Go to the railing, that's where we're heading anyway.»

«Mr Thorpe, I see you're upset, but you have to understand,» she tried to reason with him. «There's nothing between me and Chuck. That chapter of my life is long closed. I'm getting married, you see.»

She showed him her ring, knowing as she did so how foolish she'd look to an external observer.

«Not to Chuck,» she added. «To another man. A prince. Prince Louis Grimaldi of Monaco.»

Her situation was growing more and more ridiculous: she was trapped on a roof with a murderer who wanted to kill her and she was trying to hide behind her prince, who wasn't even there for her when he needed him the most. It looked like this princess had to face her evil witch all alone if she wanted to leave the tower she was being held, because her prince was nowhere to be seen.

«You may be getting married to another man, but you are the love of Chuck's life the way my wife was the love of mine. That is way he will feel exactly the way I felt, knowing it's his own actions that caused your death.»

«You will have to shoot me, then. Because there is no way I'm going to jump off this roof,» Blair said with a bravery she didn't feel. Not by a long shot.

They were at the railing now, Blair with her back against it and Thorpe between her and the door and the safety it represented. They heard a loud metallic noise, like something smashing heavily against something else. It was followed by another noise just like the first one. Thorpe turned around quickly, pointing his gun at the door.

Blair was stunned: someone was coming to rescue her! Flashes of the men in her life danced in front of her eyes and that's when she dared to hope that maybe, just maybe, this could end well.

And then was also when she realized that her rescuer was going to get shot the moment he opened the door. She ran towards the door as quickly as her heels would allow her, but she suddenly felt someone, Thorpe, pulling her back from her hair.

That's when she saw her savior: Dan.

A feeling of safety washed over her and she didn't care how irrational it was: Dan was there and she knew he would take care of it. That he would take care of her.

That's also when she felt the barrel of the gun against her right temple.

I know this is really short, but I didn't want this part to be too heavy with dialogue. Obviously I failed at that, cause there's a LOT of long dialogues, but it could have been WAY worse, believe me.

Please let me know what you think about this!


	3. 3  Dan

**DISCLAIMER: **Still not owning anything Gossip Girl related.**  
><strong>**AUTHOR'S NOTES: **This is my first GG fic but I hope this is not too OOC. Also, I'm Italian so you're warned! Ihih I'm working on getting a beta for the rest of the fic but I really wanted to publish this first two chapters before the season finale was aired.

Once again, thank you to all the people that took the time to write a review for this fic.

First of all, sorry for the huge delay, but my phone and internet have been dead till this morning because of a lighting that hit the wires just outside my house last week. Big scare, but FINALLY I have them back. So I'm posting a chapter now and probably one more in the weekend.

I'm also sorry to say that I haven't found a beta yet so unless some of you will tell me I REALLY need a beta ASAP I'm going to keep on posting. I apologize for this, but I'm still waiting to hear back from the couple of betas I've asked. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, since it's the first time I asked for a beta.

One last thing: che bello! Le italiane si moltiplicano!

* * *

><p><strong>DAN<strong>

Thorpe was holding Blair close to him, a gun trained at her head.

«Dan,» she cried out.

He felt a pang in his heart. Who was he kidding? He still had feelings for her. Deep feelings.

«Don't worry, Blair. Police is on its way. Mr Thorpe, let her go. I don't know what your problem is, but I'm sure Blair has nothing to do with it. It's Chuck you're mad at.»

He tried to keep his voice as calm and reasonable as possible. He just needed to stall: he was sure Nate had already sent help.

«Of course it's Chuck's fault: he's just like his father. But I want to hit him where it hurts the most and Blair, here, is it. He loves her, she's the love of his life, nothing in this world is more important to him than her.»

«You might be right, but Blair has already refused him more than once. The ring on her finger is proof enough of that. Don't you think it's going to hurt Chuck more to know she's happy with someone else, to see her being happy with someone else? Believe me, it's the most painful feeling in the world, knowing the woman you love is choosing someone else, someone who is not as perfect for her as you think, no, _as you know_ you could be.»

He was trying hard not to stare at Blair now, not to let her know he was talking about her rather than Serena. He knew that if he looked at her she would know, she would read it in the sadness of his eyes.

Thorpe didn't let her go, he didn't even lower his gun. He just manhandled her to get a better hold on her. He suddenly felt tired and hopeless. Inadequate and not worthy. Maybe he was in over his head. Maybe he was a fool for thinking he could sit at the poker table with all this sharks. He wasn't Chuck, he wasn't cruel. He always tried to do the right thing.

He looked up and met Blair's eyes, thinking he'd see the disappointment he felt, but he didn't. What he saw instead was trust. Looking at her he realized it didn't matter, none of that did.

He loved her. That was what mattered. Or at least it should have.

Police sirens could be heard in the distance. Hope finally raised in him.

«Please, let her go,» he tried again, pleading. «Just let her go.»

The sirens were closer now, getting louder and louder until the police cars came to a halt at the building they were at the top of.

«We're on the roof,» he yelled and then turned to Thorpe once more.

«See? They're coming for you. Please make it easy for all of us and lower your gun, we'll tell them you come around. I'm sure the judge will take that into account.»

«I'm not going to prison. I'm not!»

«They're here. You can't escape them,» Dan said, his eyes meeting Blair's once again. The fear and panic was shadowed by the trust that kept shining in them and that was exactly what Dan needed right now.

«Listen to me,» he stated forcefully at Thorpe. «I hate Chuck Bass. He did awful things to me and to those close to me. Blair might not be a saint but she's nothing like him. What he does is only for himself, his personal gain and to hurt the people he hates. Everything Blair does is to protect the people that hurt her and the one she loves. Deep down she's a good person, even if she likes to hide it. By hurting her, all you'll accomplish is hurting all the people that care about her.»

All through his speech he could hear the sound of people climbing up the stairs, boots heavy on the steps. He figured they were now at the other side of the door he tried to knock down what seemed hours ago, but actually were only a few minutes.

That's when said door opened. Four officers came through it, quickly assessing the situation.

«NYPD, freeze,» one of them yelled.

Dan slowly raised his hands instinctively and one of the officers trained his gun at him.

«My name is Dan Humpry. I was the one who asked Nate Archibald to call you,» he explained.

The policeman nodded, his eyes quickly checking him for weapons, just in case.

«Mr Thorpe, let her go,» one of the officers said.

The gun trained at Blair's forehead was still there.

«This doesn't have to end badly,» another officer stated. «Drop your weapon and let her go.»

Thorpe looked around at the people on the roof with him, his eyes moving from the policemen to Dan.

After a couple of tense seconds, he made his choice and dropped his gun, letting Blair go in the process.

The moment she was finally free, she ran to Dan, at last finding solace in the safety of his arms.

«I've got you,» he whispered into her hair.

And he really did.

* * *

><p>For those who were complaining, the next chapters are longer the first three. These were kept short for a reason: I wanted to quickly shift from a point of view to the other.<p>

Please let me know what you think about this!


	4. 4 Blair

**DISCLAIMER: **Still not owning anything Gossip Girl related. **  
><strong>**AUTHOR'S NOTES: **This is my first GG fic but I hope this is not too OOC. I don't have a beta and English is not my native language, so you're warned! I

Thanks for the reviews and sorry for the long wait. I found out I basically suck at writing romance.

This chapter is longer than the others and it's the last one, even if technically there's still another one which is going to basically be an epilogue and will be posted tomorrow before the season premiere.

Hope you'll enjoy it!

* * *

><p><strong>BLAIR<strong>

She didn't care about the officers dealing with Thorpe, she didn't care about the one asking her if she needed medical care. She didn't even care, for once, if right about now someone was alerting Gossip Girl about what was going on or taking pictures.

The only things that mattered right now were the steady yet a little accelerated rhythm of Dan's heart, beating under her ear, his arms around her body, his hands on her back and his chin on top of her head.

She prized herself of being a strong, independent woman, but right now she didn't felt like that, not in the slightest.

Once she had her nerves under control (minutes or hours later, she couldn't really tell) she allowed herself to take notice of her surroundings.

There was no trace of Thorpe anywhere on the roof and she hoped he was already on his way to jail, not to cross her path ever again. An officer was watching the door and the broken knobs now laying on the floor. Another one was waiting patiently on the side, looking at them.

«If you're ready we need to take both of your statements,» he said when she met his eyes.

She looked at Dan for reassurances, hoping he wouldn't leave her.

«Your fiancé can stay with you, if you like,» the officer suggested.

«Oh, I'm not her fiancé. We're just friends,» Dan corrected him quickly, but she noticed he didn't let go of her and she was more than fine with it right now.

«But I would really appreciate it if he could stay anyway,» she said hopefully.

«Sure,» the officer replied. «Let's start at the beginning. From your clothes it looks like you were attending an event tonight. Why did you come here?»

At the question Dan stiffened slightly, broke their embrace but kept hold of her hand, squeezing it to reassure her.

So she started to talk, telling everything, from the engagement party right to the moment she saw Dan breaking through the roof door. Once reached that point, she turned to look at Dan, the confusion she felt clearly written on her face.

«But how did you know where I was and that I was in danger,» she asked him.

«My question exactly,» the officer agreed, turning to look at him the same way she had done.

«I saw Blair leaving the party in a hurry,» he explained to the officer and then turned to look at her. «You told Charlie you were going to meet Chuck and I was worried. Nate told me what happened at the Empire last time you saw him.»

The office jumped in before he could finish, with a question.

«What happened at the Empire?»

Dan looked at her, leaving to her to decide whether or not to tell him about the incident.

«Nothing serious, officer. News I got engaged went out and Chuck was drunk. We fought, yelled at each other but no harm was done, really,» she chose to say.

The officer took notes about it, but didn't question what she told him and signaled Dan to go on.

«Well, anyway. As I said, I was worried so I jumped on a cab and followed the one Blair was in. I just wanted to make sure she was safe and ok,» he explained looking slightly guilty.

She was grateful, amused, surprised and a little more than angry, all at once. It was a lot to feel at the same time. She fought so hard to appear as a strong and independent woman and she really didn't need guys following her around to make sure she was ok, even if they weren't planning to let her know about it.

Only it looked like she actually needed it…

Ok, she might see his point.

And of all people, she was kind of glad it was Dan the one that had gone stalker on her. Not that she'd ever admit that to him.

«I followed her inside, staying a couple of flight of stairs behind. This is Chuck's building so I was expecting him to be here, but when I reached this floor I saw Thorpe closing and locking the door. It didn't sit right with me, so I called our friend Nate who's dating Thorpe's daughter, hoping they would know what was going on. He didn't go into details, but he told me Thorpe was really mad at Chuck and the fact that he had Blair cornered alone on a roof wasn't a good sign. That he was probably trying to hurt Blair to get back at Chuck.»

«But Chuck Bass isn't your fiancé, is he,» the officer asked her, looking confused as he checked his notes.

«No, he's my ex,» she explained. «But we've been together for a long time, he still cares about me and Thorpe knew about it.»

She was starting to get really annoyed, to the point she was about to suggest the officer to check Gossip Girl's archives if he still didn't get it. She did refrain herself from doing it, but barely so.

«So, you were on the phone with your friend Nate,» the officer said turning his attention back to Dan. «Is he the Nate Archibald that called 911?»

«Yes. When he told me Thorpe was probably planning to hurt Blair, I told him where we were and to call for help. Then I tried to knock down the door with my shoulder, but it didn't even budge. I saw the fire extinguisher and used it to break the handle. It worked and so I was able to open the door. That's when I saw Thorpe had a gun pointed at Blair's head.»

«And what did you do, then,» the officer asked, frantically taking notes.

«I knew I didn't stand a chance as long as he had a gun, so I tried to talk to him and stall him long enough for you guys to show up. When I heard the sirens, that was when I knew we had a chance. I tried to talk him into letting Blair go and surrendering before you came in, cause I was still afraid for her. But then you got here and took care of it.»

She looked at Dan, gratitude and affection in her eyes. He risked his own life standing up against Thorpe, when he could have easily waited for the police to handle the situation, but he did it anyway.

«Is there anything else you'd like to add at your statements?»

«Uh, no,» Dan replied. «I think I told you everything.»

«Me too,» she nodded, squeezing Dan's hand. She had a lot more to say, just not at the police officer still standing in front of them, busy flicking through his notes one last time.

After he gave them his card («in case you remember something else»), the officer let them leave the roof and go home, offering a car to get them home safely. They declined, opting for a shared cab, hopeful they'd be able to spare themselves the unwanted attention that way.

On the way down Dan kept a arm around her shoulders and she was glad about it, not really sure she could trust her legs yet: at some point, between the arrest and the moment they were cleared to go home, her legs started shaking.

She couldn't tell at what floor they were now, but she trusted Dan to lead her at the exit. She turned her head slightly towards him, trying to come up with the right words, with the right way to thank him.

«Dan,» she said before they could begin another flight of stairs. «I don't even know how to say this, thank you doesn't seem enough…»

«Blair, there's no need to thank me. I care about you… We are friends. I was right there and I couldn't not do something, not try to help you.»

«Nevertheless,» she told Dan, staring his kind eyes. «Thank you. You saved my life. I will never forget it.»

«Yeah, well,» he said looking away after a couple of seconds and starting walking again. «I wouldn't have let you forget about it, anyway. I mean, if you think about it, you just had your fairytale moment and who was your prince? Me. Dan Humphrey. A guy from Brooklyn.»

He chuckled at that and she soon joined him.

«You're right. Here I was, the princess held hostage by an evil witch - ok more like a warlock - on top of a tower in a dreadful land called Brooklyn. And who I get to save me? Dan Humphrey. Well, I guess you're still better than Shrek: at least you're not green…»

They both laughed at that and she could feel her entire body relax.

Bantering with Humphrey.

This was easy. Familiar. Safe.

And she didn't want to let go of this just yet.

«Humphrey, I think we need to make sure that being saved by you doesn't make me turn into an ogress,» she told him trying hard to look detached and hide how much she wanted him to say yes. «What about a movie at your place to kill time while we make sure I didn't catch your ogre-ness?»

He looked at her for a second, his eyes seeing deeper than most of the people she knew.

«I think it's a great idea. If you're turning into a ogress we really don't want Gossip Girl to hear about it.»

Once they reached the ground floor, though, they found Nate waiting for them. They walked to him and he smiled at them, hugging Blair when she was close enough. She absolutely didn't feel a sense of loss when Dan's arm left her shoulders to let her walk to Nate. No, she really didn't. Really.

«Thank god you're ok, Blair. When they escorted Thorpe out of the building they said you were alright, but they wouldn't let us see you before you were done giving your statements…»

«Us,» she asked, hoping that didn't mean Chuck was with him. She really didn't want to deal with him right now.

«Raina,» Nate explained. «She wanted to make sure you were ok, but seeing her father like that was too much for her, so she went back to her apartment.»

«I'm ok. And please tell her that I don't resent her in the slightest, that I know she's not her father.»

Dan turned to look at her, something akin to pride and admiration in his eyes. She tried to ignore how warm inside she got at the thought.

«Thanks, Blair,» Nate said smiling at her. «I'll tell her that. This thing hit her hard, she always loved her father very much…»

An eerie silence followed his words: Blair wasn't exactly in the mood to discuss Thorpe's merits as a father and she figured Dan felt the same.

«So,» Nate stuttered, effectively breaking the silence. «You guys are finally done? Ready to get out of here? We could share a cab, take the long way back and drop Dan home.»

She felt Dan tense up next to her and she found herself doing the same.

«Actually we were going back to the loft,» she quipped. «You'd better go check on Raina.»

Nate stared at her with a curious look plastered on his face but whatever the matter was, he chose not to press it. He hugged her briefly with only one arm and told her to take care.

With a final nod at Dan (followed by a strange smirk) he turned around and went to look for a cab.

«What was that look and that smirk,» Blair asked Dan, turning to look at him.

«I have no idea. He's one of my best friends but sometimes I don't have a clue about the things he does,» he replied, but from something in his voice and the way he was looking at anything but her she just knew he hadn't been completely honest.

She decided to let it go, too tired to deal with it, whatever "it" was.

«Same thing here. And I've known him most of my life,» she simply agreed.

«Ok then,» Dan said after a beat. «We should find a carriage, milady,» he joked.

«That would be delightful, my strong and brave knight,» she shot back, taking his proffered arm. «You know, you're quite well mannered and civilized for an ogre.»

They caught a cab still laughing at the joke, gave the driver the loft address and the settled back on their seats. It wouldn't take them much to reach their destination and neither felt the need to break the comfortable silence.

Blair was staring at the lights and shop windows passing by when the flash of a memory of Thorpe pointing the gun at her hit her hard and she barely suppressed a shiver.

Only then, when Dan tightened the arm he had around her shoulders she realized that he was once again holding her. Only now there were no stairs she needed help climbing down. Nevertheless she couldn't find in herself to move away.

She realized that she was feeling more comfortable than she had felt in a while and certainly more comfortable than an engaged woman being held by a man that wasn't her fiancé had any right to feel.

The thought of Louis finally crossed her mind. Her fiancé, who was waiting at her old high school for her to make a choice about their future together. Knowing she needed some time to think she quickly wrote him a text.

_I was going to be there but __something serious came up._

_We'll talk tomorrow, if you still want to see me. Sorry_

They needed to talk. There was no doubt about it. But she needed to be sure about her choice. And the fact that she felt so comfortable in another man's embrace didn't help settling her doubts.

She decided to ignore all of it though, at least for the moment. She just went with the feeling, going as far as laying her head on Dan's shoulder and closing her eyes, feeling all of a sudden completely and utterly exhausted.

She was asleep in a matter of seconds.

* * *

><p>When the memory of the cold barrel of Thorpe's gun pressed against her temple woke her up, she found herself in Dan's bedroom, her heart beating furiously in her chest.<p>

She had no recollection of leaving the cab and walking into the loft and she figured he had to carry her in.

As if he had heard her thinking about him, Dan appeared at the threshold.

«You ok,» he asked worried.

«Yes, just a nightmare,» she said looking around and trying to get her bearings. She was lying on his bed, still wearing her gown but shoeless, with a light quilt to keep away the chill of the summer night.

«If you want to change, you can borrow one of my shirt and a pair of shirts,» Dan told her. «I'm afraid that what my sister left here of her wardrobe, even if way more stylish than anything I own, wouldn't fit you.»

She smiled at that and nodded.

«I'm sorry I fell asleep.»

«Don't worry. Carrying you safely in was all part of the knight in shiny armor package. But for the borrowed clothes you might need to pay an extra…»

«Just put it on my tab,» she laughed, getting up from the bed.

She walked to his dresser and looked for something to wear, choosing one of his plain shirts (she might be still in shock for what happened on the roof, but there was no way in hell she was going to wear plaid or, even worse, flannel) and not bothering with shorts, knowing the shirt would be long enough.

«I'll leave you to it,» he said reaching for the door to close it. «After you're done there, do you want to go back to sleep or would you rather come sitting on the sofa and watch a movie?»

She turned to look at him and she saw the worry written all over his face. She felt tired and sleepy but she was afraid of falling asleep and be back again in the nightmare. Smack in the middle of it.

She bought some time to go over her options walking to him and turning.

«Would you,» she asked gesturing at the back of her dress.

He did it quickly and efficiently, without lingering as you would see in a movie but she still felt the ghost of his fingers on her skin and a shiver ran down her back. She moved away before he could see the goosebumps and walked to dresser where she left his shirt.

«I think I'm going back to sleep,» she said trying to get a hold of herself.

«Ok, then. I'll sleep on the sofa. Holler if you need anything.»

«Dan,» she called, without turning to look at him. «Could you… Would you mind sleeping here with me, tonight? I…»

She couldn't find in herself to finish that sentence. She was afraid and she knew it. Admit it, though, was a horse of a different color.

«Sure,» Dan told her simply and she appreciated he wasn't making a big deal out of it or joke about it. «I'll change in the bathroom. Tell me when it's safe to come back here.»

She turned slightly and watched as he closed the door. She undressed quickly, lying her dress on the back of a chair and picked up the shirt she was going to sleep into.

She changed into it and breathed in deeply, Dan's scent all around her was making her feel strangely safe. She decided that if she was going to share a bed with him, she really needed to wear shorts. She started opening the drawers till she found what she was looking for and fished out the ones on top of the pile, not really caring what they looked like.

Right now she just wanted to feel safe and comfortable. Knowing that it should have been strange to feel that way in Dan's bed, she decided to dismiss the thought and add it to the growing list of things she was going to worry about later.

She walked to the bed, she slipped under the sheets and called out for Dan, telling him he could come in when he was ready.

It was only a minute before the door opened and he walked inside, joining her under the sheets. He reached for the light switch and the room was suddenly pitch-dark. She felt him settle as far away from her as the bed allowed and she smiled.

«You know, Humphrey. Now I understand why you can never keep a girl. You're supposed to hold them when they ask you to sleep in a bed with them,» she joked. «Come here and let me show how it's done.»

They both moved until they were in the middle of the bed, Dan on his back and her on her side with her head on his chest. She felt him place an arm around her back and she smiled, content.

«See, that's how you do it,» she told him. «I wonder what you'd do without me, Humphrey!»

«Let's not find out,» he whispered. «Night, Blair.»

«Night, Dan.»

* * *

><p>Let me know what you think of this!<p> 


	5. 5 Dan

**DISCLAIMER: **Still not owning anything Gossip Girl related.**  
><strong>**AUTHOR'S NOTES: **Don't have a beta and Italian is my native language. Don't say I didn't warn you!

So, here's the epilogue. Very short, I'm afraid. Also, with this fic I've finally figured out how much I such at writing romance. Give me a fic with action, comedy and angst, I can give you 60K words, no sweat. Romance? Not so much.

* * *

><p><strong>DAN<strong>

When he woke up he quickly realized that something was wrong. Better yet, something was missing.

Opening his eyes he saw that, yes, there was no trace of Blair in the bed. He got up and looked around the loft.

Blair was nowhere to be found and the same could be said for the things she had with her the night before. A quick check told him that the shirt she borrowed to sleep in was also missing.

Shaking his head, he walked into the kitchen.

It was almost lunchtime and he was in serious need of a cup of coffee to clear his mind. Right now all he could think of was that he knew she needed to go back to her life, but he couldn't help feeling discarded like yesterday's paper.

When he reached the coffee maker he found two surprises waiting for him: a note stuck to it and a fresh pot of coffee.

He put some of the coffee in a cup, took the cup and the note to the table and sat down to drink while he read the message.

_Had to go back home._

_Thanks_

He turned the scrap of paper she scribbled on, looking for something else, something more.

That was it.

He scrunched up the note in his fist, his knuckles white with anger.

Moron. He was a moron.

What? Did he really think that Blair would give up everything for him? A guy from Brooklyn?

He was ready to throw his cup at the nearest wall when someone knocked on the door.

Even if everything in himself was telling him what a foul he was being, he couldn't help but hope it was Blair.

It wasn't her. But close enough.

«Hey, Dorota. What takes you here at my-» he started saying, but he was stopped by the woman basically throwing herself at him and hugging him tight.

«Mister Dan,» she said without letting go of him. «Thank you. Thank you, for saving Miss Blair.»

He was surprised by the gesture. He smiled at that and awkwardly patted her on the back.

«No need to thank me, seriously. The police did all the saving, really.»

«Not what I heard, Mister Dan,» she said finally letting him go. Just in time, he thought, cause breathing was really starting to become difficult. «Miss Blair said you risked your life. That you were hero. Thank you.»

He scratched his neck, feeling uncomfortable.

Dorata pulled a gift box from her big handbag and gave it to him.

«Miss Blair was busy packing, so she sent me to give you this,» Dorota told him as she placed the box in his hands. Once she did that, she turned around and left without another word and closing the door behind her.

He looked astonished at the closed door and then at the gift box he was still holding.

Blair was packing? Was she going somewhere?

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

He stepped away and walked to the sofa, placing the box on the coffee table.

It was held close by a ribbon. He pulled at it, untying the knot.

He took a deep breath and opened the lid, his eyes narrowing as if he was expecting it to go off.

He shouldn't have worried. It wasn't a bomb.

It was a brown leather bound journal, held close by a leather string.

On top of the journal there was a folded sheet of fine writing paper.

He opened it and saw Blair's elegant handwriting.

_Humphrey,_

_I wanted to thank you for letting me spend the night. Somehow thanking you for saving my life doesn't really seem enough._

_I'm pretty sure you haven't been __writing much lately: I hope this notebook will help you putting on paper your thoughts._

_I'm leaving with Louis tonight: looks like this princess is going to spend the summer among real life nobility._

_Don't worry, though. I won't forget about my very own knight in shining armor. Even if he lives in Brooklyn._

_But s__eriously, Dan. Thank you!_

_See you in the fall, my friend._

_B._

He stared at the words on the paper, trying to ignore Louis' name and everything linked to that.

He focused on one word, one that stood out for him above all the others.

_Friend_

Well, at least she had finally acknowledge it. They were friends.

And he even had written proof of it, now.

He traced the word with the tip of his fingers. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Friends.

Well, at least it was a good start. He could work with that.

And he had a whole summer to figure out how this lonely knight could get his princess.

* * *

><p>AN: Well, here it is, folks. It's done.

I didn't want things to get nicely wrapped up for them in a matter of a night. I don't see them getting together so easily. Let's just see this as another step towards the happy ending I would like to see for those two.

At least if the writers don't mess up the one thing I like on this show.

Anyway, let me know what you guys think of this.

Also, I'm not really sure if anyone is interested, but I won't write a sequel. Well, at least I'm not planning on it. But if the writers keep pissing me off, I might sit down and do something about it. We'll see! p


End file.
